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Debt deal may accelerate Farm Bill timetable

The recent debt ceiling deal between Congress and the Obama administration could force 2012 Farm Bill decisions to be made much sooner than expected.

Washington watchers say that deal may force the agriculture committees to decide which ag programs live and die by Thanksgiving of this year.  Mostly, it depends on whether the new “super committee” on deficit reduction can come up with an acceptable plan by November 23^rd. 

“Whenever you start talking about cuts to the federal budget, farm programs usually top the list,” says Colin Woodall, vice president of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. “So we’ve had conversations with the staff on the House and Senate side and I think we’re all going to have to be prepared to—possibly—start writing a bill sometime this fall.”

Meanwhile, House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson is suggesting that agriculture programs are likely to fare better under the debt deal if the ‘super committee’ fails to develop recommendations or cannot get its plan passed by Congress.

In that case, Peterson says, the deal would force across-the-board cuts in defense and non-defense spending that would likely result in lower cuts for agriculture than if the committee targeted specific programs.